Posted:23rd Jan 2006I'm a juggler and a poi spinner, and I spend about four hours three times a week practicing. Since I have a really awful school schedule and I'm also a musician, I sometimes find it hard to always have things to practice, and oftentimes I find myself feeling disappointed if I haven't really worked on much in a while.

I'm sure that everyone gets this, I'm just wondering what everyone else does to conquer downtime.

Personally, for example, I've made lists of tricks that I want to work on from videos and stuff, so I don't run out of things that I want to do. I've also built new toys if I get stuck, or just work on technique or doing stuff with partners and jazz like that.

Posted:23rd Jan 2006When I hit a plateau on a learning curve, I do a couple of things.

Try a different prop. when you're stuck on poi, try staff etc.

Go dance. If i've reached a plateau, I'll go clubbing. It helps remind me why I enjoy spinning or whatever it is I take with me so much.

Teach others. There's no feeling better than when you get someone else to do something they've been trying for ages!

hope that little list helps...

Empty your mind. Be formless, Shapeless, like Water.Put Water into a cup, it becomes the cup, put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.Water can flow, or it can Crash.Be Water My Friend.

Posted:23rd Jan 2006teaching others is a great way to go. Not only does it give you a chance to improve your skills, but the person you're teaching will more than likely spark some new ideas with questions like..what if you did ___.

another prop is also a good way to go.

and maybe some people will have issues with this, but....practicing less. If you spend more time trying ot figure something out in your head and not doing it so much, it gives you a greater sense of accomplishment Spinning with other people, especially those with different styles is a good way to go.

Posted:31st Jan 2006If I get stuck with poi or staff I mess about with some of the basic moves and find new variations in them that I didn't know about before. I can spend hours just spinning butterfly and weaves thinking about what would happen if I put my hands in different places and how that would look. I figured out butterfly weaves and some of the contact poi stuff that way.

I also play guitar, that seems to help relax me enough to spin and hit myself a thousand times more.

Or I play Homeworld 2 lots and watch Lost, Brass Eye and The Day Today.

Posted:1st Feb 2006Haha. Lots of "Lost" going on here lately, don't you worry. I've also been henna'd a whole lot, and doing school crap.

I've been trying to break things up, but I juggle ("Juggle"=do poi, juggling, passing, etc etc) three times a week and I don't always have the energy to even think about what I want to do. There are some kids who've been dropping by lately wanting to "learn" poi, if you know what I mean, but teaching them gets a little taxing.

I like the idea of messing around with basic stuff and trying different props and also just SLEEPING, so we'll see how that goes. =)